


Do You Feel All Alone?

by Know_Your_Paradoxes



Series: Hospital AU [1]
Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, Super Dangan Ronpa 2
Genre: Adorable, Alternate Universe - Non-Despair, Cute, Cutesy, Declarations Of Love, F/F, Falling In Love, First Kiss, First Love, Fluff, Friendship/Love, Girls Kissing, Inspired by Music, Kissing, Long, Long Shot, Love, Minor Original Character, One Shot, References to Canon, Sweet, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Underage Kissing, Underage Relationship(s)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-05
Updated: 2016-06-05
Packaged: 2018-07-10 22:22:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,440
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7010728
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Know_Your_Paradoxes/pseuds/Know_Your_Paradoxes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mikan Tsumiki has always felt alone in this world, but once she meets Chiaki Nanami, she wonders if her luck has changed.</p><p>Inspired by the song "You Are the Moon" by The Hush Sound.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Do You Feel All Alone?

Mikan Tsumiki had thought nothing of it when she had been assigned to become the full-time bedside nurse of another patient. That was sort of her specialty. While she loved to take care of lots of people (and, if she were being completely honest with herself, give a lot of people lots of different kinds of shots), she was much better at taking care of one person at a time. Plus, she could talk to them and form a good bond with them. It made her feel much better about herself when she managed to make somebody happy in spite of their circumstances. Mikan truly felt like she was doing well in her work if someone could smile despite being cooped up with some of the worst illnesses they've ever had to tackle.

When she walked into the room, she was greeted by a pale girl, about her age, with light pink hair and eyes. She had a faint smile on her face, and she lifted up her good arm (the one not full of needles) to give Mikan a wave.

"H-Hello," Mikan began, cursing herself in her mind for stammering. Normally, she wasn't like this. She had developed a stutter only about a year ago, and it had only begun to come to prominence within the last three months. "M-My name is... Mikan T-Tsumiki. I'm going to be your full-time nurse from now on. I-Is that okay with you, M-Miss..." She flipped to the front page of the profile she had before her, reading the full name of her patient. "Miss Nanami?"

Chiaki Nanami had it pretty bad. She was diagnosed with Stage III stomach cancer, a fairly common cancer throughout the country. But since her's hadn't been treated, she was more than likely either going to have to fight like hell or she was going to succumb to it. Just as she had been brought into the hospital, the doctors had taken her rushing to the bathroom, where she was said to have vomited up a fair amount of blood.

Chiaki nodded, her long eyelashes batting as she blinked. "It's nice to meet you, Mikan. Please, just call me Chiaki."

"O-Okay, i-if you'd like..." Mikan wasn't sure why she felt this nervous. Sure, Chiaki was beautiful, but she was no more stunning than the supermodel Mikan had taken care of a week ago after she had been diagnosed with self-inflicted Bulemia.

She then looked around the small hospital room, to the curtains separating her from the patient next to her, and then to the window. Mikan had always thought of window rooms as both the most lucky and most unlucky places to be put during a hospital stay.

Window rooms had always been indicative that a patient didn't have much longer to live. However, for as long as the patient did live, they got to see the outside world, and how beautiful the sky could be. She had always envied the window room patients, because she herself loved to just stare out the window, out to the city. It made her all the right kinds of anxious. Mikan had never liked large objects, but for some reason, the world itself intrigued her, and that was the largest of all.

Chiaki had a pensive look to her as she turned back to face Mikan. "Does this mean that I don't have much more time before I die?" she asked, her voice no less quiet than it had been before.

She had such a pleasant voice, it was like music to Mikan's ears. She could've heard Chiaki talk for hours upon hours and she would've never tired of hearing her voice. It was full of wonder, thought, and daydreams, and it always sounded curious. Her voice reminded her of her own, somewhat, except it was much more pleasant to listen to - much smoother on the ears.

However, the question was extremely morbid, and hadn't been something she had been expecting the girl to ask her.

"W-Well... your cancer IS p-pretty bad... B-B-But I can assure you, we're going to do all we can to make sure that you get better!" Mikan answered. 

And that was the truth. It was Mikan's job to help her patients and give them her best efforts to make sure they got well, and she wasn't about to stop doing that now, especially not for someone as sick as Chiaki. She was going to give her best shot at keeping her from dying, and repairing her body to the best of her abilities.

Chiaki gave a slow nod in response, seemingly content with the answer she had given. "I hope so. I want to see and do so much more before I die..." her expression turned sad, and Mikan could see tears welling up in her eyes.

"P-P-P-Please, don't cry!" she exclaimed, putting a hand onto Chiaki's left arm (the good arm), setting the clipboard she had brought with her down onto the counter next to her. "I know how hard it must be to have to come to terms with s-something like this... b-but I know that you can get through this. E-Even though I don't r-r-really know you yet, I can sense that you're a strong p-person. Y-Y-You've already done well to get this far. Stage III is..."

"You don't have to comfort me, Mikan. I know my own mortality. Honestly, I'm fine with it. But, I really hope that this hospital can help me, because I truly do want to get better. I have people relying on me. My brother and my father have both spent so much of their lives on me, and I really don't want them to have to lose all of that progress because I got sick."

Mikan couldn't believe how mature Chiaki was. She was taking the situation very well, even with all of the adversity she would have to overcome in order to get through her illness. She was extremely brave, that much was certain. Mikan didn't think she could ever muster even half of the courage that Chiaki was showing to her right now. If she were ever put in that kind of situation, she could only imagine that she would be scared and depressed out of her mind, but here Chiaki was, battling through it, a true survivor till the very end.

Mikan couldn't help but admire her for that.

She kept her hand lingering on Chiaki's arm for a while, as she had grown to develop a strange, almost instantaneous fondness for her, now that she knew who she was, and how kindhearted, brave, and thoughtful she could really be.

She was getting the feeling that she was going to enjoy being her full-time nurse.

* * *

It had been a week since Chiaki had been admitted into the hospital. Her condition had seemed to neither improve nor get worse, and she had been mostly content with staying in the hospital, only having a brief episode where she mentioned missing her brother and father.

She had seemed completely okay, and Mikan had hope that Chiaki was going to take a turn for the better.

That is, until she had went in to check her vitals and she had noticed that she was out of her bed.

Mikan looked around the area, checking into other patient's quarters, then checking into the bathroom. Once she got into the bathroom, Mikan couldn't believe everything that she was seeing.

"O-O-Oh my God!" she screamed, seeing a half-conscious Chiaki lying on the floor, the front of her hospital gown covered in vomit and blood. Her eyes were half-open, and it looked like she had lost quite a bit of blood. Mikan checked in the toilet to find only more, and she was guessing that she had lost about a pint or two. She ran out of the bathroom and immediately searched for any of the doctors or other nurses to help her. "Somebody, please! My patient needs help!"

Finally, she got someone to help her, and she and the other nurse grabbed Chiaki and led her to her bed. Mikan immediately checked her profile to find out her blood type. O negative.

She ran to find a blood bag that fit her blood type, and then rushed back in a daze to put it into Chiaki's transfusion. The other nurse had kept her stable while Mikan had been away, and she was grateful for the help. "Thank you, really! I can't thank you enough for your help! Oh, c-could you please get a doctor in here? T-Thank you, again!" She looked down to see that Chiaki's eyelids were fluttering open.

"Oh, thank goodness, you're still conscious! I-I-I was s-so worried about you when I s-saw you lying on the bathroom floor... I-I thought..."

Chiaki gave another smile, this one much more faint than any Mikan had seen. "I'm not dead. Not yet. After all, I still have people to live for, don't I? I'm not going to give up that easily."

"You're really lucky, do you know that? Y-You lost quite a bit of b-blood!"

She gave a little laugh and replied, "I suppose I've always been a bit lucky. I'm not going to succumb to some virus, right? After all, that's all that cancer really is, isn't it? Just some terrible virus that some people just naturally have inside of them? Luck has nothing to do with it. It's just a matter of being strong."

Once again, here she was, showing that she was wise beyond her years, saying such amazing things, and Mikan couldn't believe that she and Chiaki were the same age. She could never be as wise as her, nor could she pretend to have the kind of maturity that Chiaki had already achieved. She couldn't comprehend just how amazing she was to be able to sit back and take all of these horrible things happening to her, and yet still manage to be hopeful.

It was almost like she had a talent for being hopeful or something.

"You're very wise, h-has anyone ever t-told you that, Chiaki?" Mikan asked.

Chiaki's smile grew wider, and became much more heartfelt. "No, nobody's ever really told me that before. But thank you. I'm glad you think so. You're a good nurse, Mikan."

Mikan felt her cheeks growing warmer. She had never been told something like that before. Just the thought of someone genuinely complimenting her made her feel flustered.

Her heart felt like it was pounding out of her chest. "Um... t-thank you, Chiaki. R-Really, I'm just doing what any nurse would've done..."

"I really mean it, Mikan. You've got a good heart. I can tell."

Once again, Mikan felt her cheeks getting hotter. Coming from someone as brave and amazing as Chiaki, she had no choice but to believe that it was somewhat true. After all, for someone like her to be able to say that, and genuinely mean it, she HAD to have some resemblance to that remark.

She gave a sweet smile to Chiaki and said, "You really need to rest. Please, get some sleep."

After she checked on her vitals, she left her to sleep. The hospital felt silent, save for the sounds of Mikan's footsteps. She was still reeling from the nice compliments she had received. How could she possibly calm down when somebody made her feel so happy? She was elated that she could get such amazing compliments from her patient. It was one thing to nurse someone back to full health. It was another thing entirely to receive such a heartfelt compliment from her patient AND still manage to nurse her back to some semblance of health.

She continued her jaunt down the hall, feeling completely giddy.

* * *

Two more weeks had passed, and nothing of the unusual sort had happened since Mikan had found Chiaki lying on the bathroom floor. She was grateful for that, as she had begun to grow closer to her over the course of those two weeks. Mikan had been with her almost constantly, and she had grown attached to her. She wasn't sure if she would consider Chiaki a close friend, but she was definitely invested in her.

She had been completely floored by her determination.

Over those two weeks, there had been three new patients, but all of them PALED in comparison to Chiaki's bravery. First was a baby-faced, suited-up kid that had lost his eye in an accident that he wouldn't describe to Mikan, or anyone for that matter. (He had asked everyone about someone named Peko, but nobody had really known anything. Mikan hadn't stuck around long enough to see if he ever got to talk to her or not.) Second was a gymnast that had gotten into a sparring match with her coach, and had come in with relatively minor injuries, in comparison to the other boy's. And the third was a boy who had been diagnosed with lymphoma and fronto-temporal dementia. Mikan almost felt BAD for that kid.

But none of them had ANY kind of wisdom or courage when they were put side-by-side against Chiaki.

She was completely focused on her goal, and her goal was to get better for her family. She had a sagacious nature that nobody could ever top, or even COMPETE with, for that matter. Her heart was pure and kind, and she always had something nice to say. She was just so sweet and precious that Mikan just wanted to hug her.

Okay, maybe Mikan thought of her as a friend.

"Alright, Chiaki, I'm just here to check on your vitals again. How are you feeling? Are you feeling any better?"

Chiaki nodded, that same sweet smile on her face, almost as if she never took it off. Mikan couldn't understand how she could keep smiling relentlessly despite all of the horrible things she was going through, but she admired it nonetheless. Her heart skipped a beat every time she saw her give that smile, anyway. "Yeah, I'm feeling much better, at least compared to how I was feeling before now. I hope my vitals show that."

Mikan grabbed the blood pressure cuff and wrapped it as gently as she could around Chiaki's right arm (the bad one, the one full of needle scars and bruises from misplaced IVs that Mikan had apologized endlessly for, but had still never quite made up for). She was so used to the routine by now, she didn't even need to ask Chiaki if she was alright with the procedures.

As she kept squeezing, making the blood pressure cuff tighter and tighter against Chiaki's shoulder, only stopping once she felt the blood stop flowing temporarily (even though Chiaki had begun to wince three squeezes before), Chiaki spoke, her voice a little louder than usual. "You know, this year, I was going to be a high school senior. I was going to go to Hope's Peak Academy, because I had just gotten accepted. Isn't that crazy?"

Suddenly, Mikan went stiff. She couldn't believe it. Mikan herself went to Hope's Peak as a senior, as the Super High School Level Nurse, they called her. But hearing that Chiaki was supposed to have attended with her made her suddenly feel stone cold. "R-Really? Wha... what was your Super High School Level talent?"

She let out a clear giggle that pierced the air, even piercing the loud beeping of the heart monitor. "I was going to be the Super High School Level Gamer, but then I was diagnosed with stomach cancer, and that kind of fell through... which really stinks, because my father attended that school too, and I wanted to make him proud of me. He was the Super High School Level Programmer. D-Do you remember him, Mikan? He was in the news a lot when he got accepted to attend."

Mikan had definitely heard of the Programmer, and vaguely recalled his name as being Chihiro Fujisaki. Now that she thought about it, she had remembered him because he had dressed like a girl during his first two years at Hope's Peak. However, he had managed to start training, and once he started getting more muscular, he had undergone some severe changes. He had cut his hair, begun wearing more masculine clothes, and had even been seen hanging out with the Super High School Level Biker Gang Leader, Mondo Oowada. She had supposed that he had been Chihiro's personal trainer or something. She had also recalled seeing those two with the Super High School Level Prefect, Kiyotaka Ishimaru. Hadn't the three recently been rumored to have begun a polyamorous relationship? Was Chiaki perhaps an adopted child? Chihiro couldn't have been much older than she was, so it wasn't a far stretch, plus, since he was in a relationship with two other males...

She had no time to even be thinking of such things. "Y-Yes, I remember him. You're a very lucky girl, to have such an amazing father AND have such a talent yourself. I-I can only imagine what it's like..."

She didn't want to hurt Chiaki by admitting that she was attending the school. She figured that she would learn about it sooner or later anyway.

"Wait... Aren't you a student there, too, Mikan?" she asked, as Mikan reached over to take the cuff off of her shoulder.

"U-Um..." she began, unsure of what to answer. On the one hand, Chiaki would be more accepting if she told her the truth. On the other hand, she would get very upset if she did that. There were pros and cons to both answers, so Mikan picked the lesser of two evils. "Y-Y-Y-Yes, I'm the Super High School Level Nurse. M-Mikan... Tsumiki."

Chiaki put her hand onto Mikan's forearm, and said, "That's amazing. I'm very proud of you, too. I always knew that you were special. You really deserve that title. I mean it."

As soon as she felt her reassuring touch, Mikan's face flushed bright red. She wasn't used to being treated so nicely. This was one of the first times that she had ever felt like she was equal to another person, and that thought made her feel both relieved and terrified. For the first time, someone was treating her with respect. She couldn't believe it.

"I-I'm so sorry that you didn't get to go to school with me, Chiaki. I re-really wish that you and I could have gotten to meet there instead of here..."

"I wish that, too, but I'm just glad that I got to meet you anyway. After all, you're one of my first friends."

Mikan shook her arm away from Chiaki's touch, gasping in both shock and fear. "Y-Y-You r-really think of me as a f-f-f-friend?!" she whispered.

"Well, of course I do! You've always been so nice to me, and you've been here for me when I needed you, and you've never let me down. You always listen to me and make sure that I'm okay, and when I'm not, you make sure to do everything you can to make me feel better. That's what friends do, isn't it? We're friends!"

"I've never had a f-friend b-be-be-before! I-I can't believe it! T-Thank you, so much!" Mikan's face hurt from smiling so wide. She wasn't used to this at all. When was the last time she had ever felt this happy? Was it when the supermodel had told her that she was beautiful? Was it when she had gotten accepted into Hope's Peak Academy? She couldn't remember. She just couldn't believe that Chiaki considered her to be her friend. She had never thought that she was good enough to be friends with someone like Chiaki Nanami.

Mikan didn't deserve to be friends with someone as sweet, compassionate, kind, and fearless as her. She didn't even deserve to be her NURSE! How was she ever going to accept being her FRIEND?

Chiaki simply shook her head and put her hands onto Mikan's, only serving to make her face redder than it had been before. "No, Mikan. Thank you. You've really helped me a lot through these past three weeks. If it weren't for you, I probably wouldn't have lived this long. So again, thank you, from the bottom of my heart. I really appreciate all of the things you've done for me."

* * *

Three months had passed. Three months. The fading autumn leaves had soon made way into snowflakes, and the holiday season had begun to hit it's final legs - it was two days before Christmas.

Mikan had stepped into Chiaki's quarters, not thinking anything of it, with a box in her hands, which were hidden behind her back. She figured since she and Chiaki had become friends, she would give her a Christmas present. It would make them even better friends, and it would help her cheer up while she was still recovering in the hospital. She figured it was the least that she could do to help her feel a little better about her situation.

"Good morning, Chiaki! How are you feeling?" she asked, a giddy smile plastered onto her face.

Chiaki didn't return the smile. Instead, she looked out the window, which was beginning to fog over from the clashing temperatures of the bitter outdoors and the heat inside. The snowflakes looked almost picturesque from her angle, and Mikan could see the full patterns of some of them. It was amazing to watch them falling down. However, she didn't stare out the window for long.

She could sense that Chiaki was scared. No, not just scared... depressed, sorrowful, angry, regretful... She was full of so many emotions that Mikan couldn't list them all.

Mikan sat the present box down on the floor once she sat down in the seat at her bedside. "Are you okay? Y... you seem s-sad..."

Chiaki shook her head. "Well, it's so close to Christmas, and my dad hasn't come to visit me yet. Neither has my brother. I'm worried about them. What if they don't see me today? What if something's happened to them and I can't be there?"

A single tear rolled down her porcelain cheek. "I miss them so much... All I want is to even just get a phone call from them, or a message..." Her voice wobbled as she spoke, clearly broken by how saddened she was at the thought of not being able to see her family during the holidays. "I just want to hear their voices. But they haven't called me, or came here..."

"I-I'm very sorry, Chiaki, but... I brought you a present, since I'm going to be off duty on the actual day of Christmas. Here. Open it." She picked up the box and set it in Chiaki's lap.

Her mouth turned to a perfect 'O' shape, surprised that Mikan had done something for her.

"You bought me a present? But Mikan... you didn't have to do this for me. Just being able to call you a friend and have you caring for me while I'm sick is enough. I already owe you my life. You really didn't need to buy me anything."

"I figured it might help you feel better, since being inside a hospital all the time is pretty crummy. And seeing now that you're as sad as you are, I'm really glad that I did, because it might help you while your family is away..."

Chiaki turned to face Mikan and gave her a smile. "Thank you, really. You've made me so very very happy while I've been here, and I can't thank you enough. I'm proud to call you my friend." She then focused her attention to the box in front of her. With delicate hands, she carefully plucked away at the tape that was holding the wrapping paper around the box, making sure not to actually tear into the paper. Once she got through the tape, she unfolded the paper and lifted the cover of the box, to find Mikan's gift.

It was a new PS Vita, something that she had overheard Chiaki talking about buying, but that she had never gotten around to it.

"Oh, Mikan!" she exclaimed, with a smile on her face. Now that she had been caught up on her IV, she could turn to hug her with both of her arms, something that Mikan was grateful for. "You really didn't have to buy me this! How much did it cost?"

"About 25,000 yen, but-"

Chiaki cut her off, covering her mouth with her hands and taking in a pretty big gasp. "Oh my goodness, you really didn't have to do this for me! I can't even imagine how much that took out of your earnings! You're a high school student, after all, and so the hospital probably doesn't pay you as much as their other nurses, and now you've spent all of that yen on me, and-"

Mikan shook her head, grabbing a hold of Chiaki's hand. She let go of the Vita and turned her eyes onto Mikan, with an innocence so pure and adorable that Mikan's heart began to flutter, as though she had fallen in love. "Really, it's fine. I had the money, and you're very important to me, since you're my first friend, and so I wanted to buy you something nice. Merry Christmas, Chiaki." She gave her the most sincere smile she had managed in about a year, and Chiaki returned it ten times brighter.

"Merry Christmas, Mikan!" she replied, happily. "I'm going to buy SO many games for this, and then we're both going to play them, and we'll have so much fun!" Her voice continued to ramble on and on about how much fun she was going to have playing on the console, but Mikan didn't hear any of what she was saying past that.

Maybe she HAD fallen in love.

* * *

Another week had passed, and it was New Year's Eve. Unfortunately, because Mikan had taken Christmas Day off of work, she had to come in for the next holiday, but she really didn't mind. She had absolutely LOATHED being away from Chiaki.

Mikan saw no point in trying to deny it anymore - she had definitely developed a crush. It was nothing more than a schoolgirl crush, the kind that you would see on TV where a young girl fell in love with the charismatic adult, yet she knew that they could never return that love because of their differences. It was the kind of love that many would find adorable, yet rather precocious and unlikely. And Mikan hated herself for being in love with her, because she had already been hated before, but after word got out that she was in love with another girl, almost 90% of the entire nation would probably frown at her.

Still, she looked up to other LGBT+ community members for inspiration.

For example, Chiaki's father, Chihiro. Not only was he apparently homosexual, but he was also polyamorous. It just went to show you that they could be involved in the community in even more than one way and still be a success.

Kiyotaka Ishimaru, one of the two men that was rumored to have been living with Chihiro, was also another example. He wasn't out, either, but he was still actively involved in the community, and he was a very successful diplomat.

And Junko Enoshima, the supermodel that had happened to waltz into the hospital with self-inflicted bulemia, the beautiful gyaru that had taken the time out of her day to tell Mikan that she thought she was pretty, was successful, and she was bisexual, as far as Mikan knew.

All of those amazing figures, and she was still afraid to admit to herself, alone, with nobody else around, that she cared for Chiaki.

But she didn't mind keeping that secret to herself. She was very content with just spending time with Chiaki. Sometimes, she would give Mikan money and have her go to buy games that the two of them could play together, and then the two would spend the rest of their day competing with one another. (Mikan had managed to beat Chiaki but once, at that was during their competition to see who could get the most good endings in a dating sim.) Other times, Chiaki would be able to walk around the hospital, and the two of them would just take a walk together through the halls, talking about everything and nothing. Everyday felt like a new adventure when it was with her.

And that night, the two had spent their time mostly just watching the New Year's Eve special on TV that had been broadcasted from America.

Mikan was impressed by how well Chiaki understood English. She herself only knew certain words and phrases, mostly pertaining to medical knowledge, as the only times she really spoke to native English speakers were when they happened to stop into the hospital. But Chiaki seemed to grasp the language fairly well.

So when she had mentioned that Americans had a custom of kissing someone close to them when the clock struck midnight, it did a little more than just frighten Mikan.

"W-W-W-W-What? A-Americans d-do that? Why? D-D-Don't they know who th-they're kissing? Wh-What if they kiss a complete stranger?"

Chiaki shrugged. "I don't know. The lady that usually gets shown kissing someone doesn't seem to mind that she's kissing someone she's never met before. I agree, that custom is pretty strange, but... aren't you at least a little intrigued by it? Just, the thought of being able to do something romantic like that?"

Mikan blinked three times, in rapid succession. "U-Um... well, I've n-never really... had anybody that w-w-wanted to do s-something like that with me before..."

"Really? I thought that with how pretty you are, you would attract a lot of boys. I mean, if I were a boy, I would've probably already exhausted all of my flirty lines on you." Chiaki sounded as sincere as she always did, which both confused and frightened the hell out of Mikan.

"B-But I'm really not all that pretty..."

Chiaki shook her head. "No, no, you're right. Pretty isn't the right word..."

Mikan wiped the sweat off of her brow at this, because she had been worried that she would have to confess to Chiaki that she had fallen in love with her. Just the mere thought of doing that made her anxious.

However, what she said next only served to make Mikan sweat twice as fast. "I would say you're more beautiful than pretty... maybe even breathtaking? I guess? I mean, I don't really know how boys would describe you, but, that's the way that I would."

"Y-You're not a boy, though! Plus, you're my fr-fr-friend, you h-have to say that."

"I don't have to say anything, Mikan. I genuinely mean it. You're kind, and smart, and friendly, and beautiful. I don't see why you don't have a boy in your life already. If they only knew the person that I know right now, I can guarantee that you would be caught in a STRING of romances." She let out a little giggle. "But anyway, shh! The ball is about to drop!"

Mikan gulped and grabbed a hold of Chiaki's hand.

A sudden rush of bold energy ran through her during the countdown.

10... 9... 8...

"Mikan, why are you grabbing my hand so tightly? And why are your palms so sweaty?"

7... 6... 5... 4...

"Chiaki, I want to see what it feels like to do that tradition."

3...

She took in a deep breath, preparing herself for what was about to come.

2...

Chiaki seemed to turn in her hospital bed, making it somewhat easier for Mikan.

1...

Mikan closed the gap almost entirely at once, unsure of what else to do. Time had almost run out, and she had almost psyched herself out of going for it three times during those 10 short seconds.

"HAPPY NEW YEAR!" the television yelled. Mikan put one hand onto Chiaki's shoulder, and used the other to cup the side of her face. Meanwhile, Chiaki had put one hand to Mikan's waist, and the other to the other side of her face. Her lips were soft and tasted like strawberries, Mikan noted. Their lips seemed to move perfectly in sync with one another's, with Mikan tilting her head one way and Chiaki making up for it by tilting hers the opposite. It lasted for roughly three measures of "Auld Lang Syne", not enough to satisfy Mikan, but enough to give her heart a much-wanted kick in it's step. Her lips tingled with desire and happiness, a feeling quite new to her.

She had never thought that a first kiss could be so amazing.

* * *

"Mikan, this is Yamazaki, we need you on the third floor, quickly. Your patient, Chiaki Nanami, has just collapsed."

She had been dreading this call.

Her heart ached with every second that passed by, with every footstep she managed to take down the hall, with every jagged breath that escaped her lips, with every single beep of another patient's heart monitor that she heard. None of them belonged to Chiaki, so she didn't care about them much anymore.

What she DID care about was getting to Chiaki and making sure that she was alright. She had already gotten through the first ordeal with her fainting in the bathroom, but she wasn't sure if she could make it through this one.

Especially not now that she had kissed her.

Once she got to where Yamazaki was standing, with Chiaki propped up on their shoulder, she said, "Thank you, Akira. Could you help me take her back to her bed?"

They nodded and waited for Mikan to position herself to where she was supporting the other half of Chiaki's weight.

"So, I heard that you were with her on New Year's Eve," Yamazaki said, with a smirk on their face.

Mikan's face turned beet red. "W-W-Where did you hear that?"

"Chiaki herself. She talks a LOT about you, actually. She wouldn't stop, even when I tried asking her about other stuff. She must really like you. I mean, I can't see why she WOULDN'T like you, but... I mean, the way she spoke made it sound like you two were together. Isn't that crazy? I would totally support you if that were true, but still... I can't believe it."

Mikan felt extremely embarrassed. Chiaki had talked about her to Akira Yamazaki? Akira Yamazaki, her other nurse that hadn't been NEARLY as close with her as Mikan had been? And yet she refused to talk about things with her whenever Mikan brought the subject up in passing?

"Well, we aren't together, if that's what you're asking," Mikan replied, her voice firm. "We're just very good friends."

Yamazaki shrugged. "Alright, if you say so. You know that I would support you, right?" they asked.

Mikan nodded. Yamazaki themselves were part of the LGBT+ community, identifying as agender. They would definitely be one of the first to say that they openly supported Mikan should she "come out of the closet", a phrase that she really hated using. There was no closet. She was just in love with a girl. Just because she fell in love with another girl once didn't mean that she was 100% attracted to girls. Junko Enoshima was living proof of this. Perhaps Mikan could identify as being bisexual.

But that didn't feel right, either. She had never really been in love before, so perhaps she WAS homosexual. Or, perhaps, she was demisexual.

She had seen the phrase a couple of times during her research, and the thought of it had definitely intrigued her. She had been somewhat happy to hear that it was a valid sexuality, and perhaps, in the back of her mind, she knew that this was who she truly was.

But this was no time for a soul search. She had to make sure that Chiaki was going to be alright. "Y-Yes, thank you, Akira, but I really don't-"

A sudden groan from Chiaki startled Mikan. She turned to look at her, and was appalled by how defeated she looked. Mikan would never get used to seeing her like this. She would never be able to look at Chiaki and associate her with being broken or defeated. It hurt badly enough to see her lying on the bathroom floor, even just unconscious. To see her so completely shattered was almost out of character for her. This wasn't the Chiaki that Mikan had grown to love over the past four months. This couldn't possibly be her.

"Shh, it's okay, Chiaki. We're here for you, and we're going to get you back to your hospital bed. Everything is going to be alright," Yamazaki said.

Chiaki shook her head. "W-Where's Mikan?" she asked, her voice weak. "I want to see Mikan... I don't know you..."

"Yes you do, I'm the nurse that was assigned to check in on you while Mikan wasn't available, remember? I'm Nurse Yamazaki."

"Oh, right... but where's Mikan? I miss her..."

Mikan wasn't sure if she wanted to speak up or if she just wanted to hear Chiaki speak more about her. She eventually piped up. "I'm right here, on your other side. Trust us, we're here to help you."

Chiaki immediately turned to face Mikan, giving a faint grin. "I'm so glad that you're here..."

A nervous sweat broke out onto Mikan's forehead after hearing that from her. Just how much had she said to Yamazaki? WHAT had she said to Yamazaki, anyway? "Y-Yes, you should be... i-i-if it weren't for Akira, I wouldn't be here though, s-so you need to be grateful."

Chiaki's eyes widened a bit in surprise, and she then turned to look towards Yamazaki. "Thank you for getting Mikan here, Yamazaki-san. I'm very glad that you're here to help, too... I'm sorry..."

Yamazaki shook their head. "No need to apologize. Just keep whatever strength you have left inside. Can you do that for us, Chiaki?" They sounded just as concerned as Mikan felt, which was comforting to her, in the sense that she was going through a bit of a crisis at the thought of sounding obsessive. Sure, she was in love with Chiaki, but she couldn't tell the difference in her speech. What if she really DID sound like she was obsessed with her? What if she sounded rude towards Yamazaki? She didn't want to come across that way. Her heart skipped a beat at the thought of sounding so cruel.

However, neither of the two had seemed to acknowledge that she sounded different yet, which was comforting, in it's own way. She watched as Chiaki gave a nod in response to Yamazaki's question, and closed her eyes.

The implication that this gesture showed was not lost on Mikan, as she let out a yelp. "Chiaki, p-p-please don't close your eyes! Y-You have to be strong and keep them open, otherwise we w-won't know that you're alive!"

Her eyes fluttered back open, and Mikan finally appreciated how beautiful they were for the first time. They were much more pink and warm-colored than her hair was, and that alone was a rather late revelation for her to have had. However, they were also some of the most warm and inviting eyes that she had seen. They said everything about her that you needed to know. They reflected her so well, and she could get lost in them.

But she wasn't about to let those eyes get the best of her. She wasn't about to do that and have this be the last time she saw Chiaki's eyes like this.

It had felt like an eternity had passed before they had finally managed to reach Chiaki's bed. "Hold on, Chiaki, w-we're almost there," she whispered into her ear, doing her best to continue to reassure her that everything was going to be okay.

And it seemed to work, because once she had gotten settled into her bed and reattached to the machines that kept checking her vitals, she seemed fairly content. Her head turned to Yamazaki and she said, "Thank you for helping me get back. I don't know what I could've done had you not helped."

After Yamazaki had left the room, she turned to Mikan. "And Mikan, thank you for helping Yamazaki-san. You're a good nurse."

A smile crept onto Mikan's face as she replied, "Get some rest, Chiaki."

* * *

The snow had melted, and the grass had grown again. Flowers were in bloom, and the air suddenly felt much crisper and cleaner than it had before. Spring was in full, this year's seemingly more breathtaking than the last. The months began to blur together. March to April... April to May...

On the night of the Spring Formal, Mikan had been lucky enough to have gotten to ask Chiaki to go with her.

Chiaki's condition had done nothing but get much better, and she was finally able to get out of the hospital with surveillance by the staff. It was the perfect excuse to take her with her to see Hope's Peak Academy.

She had also been lucky enough to have received a "yes" as an answer.

Mikan's heart had skipped a beat as she stepped out of the hospital bathroom, now in her formal attire. It was nothing fancy compared to something any other girl might wear, like Junko Enoshima, for an example. Just a simple black dress that came down to just past her knees and a pair of one-inch tall heels.

She opened the curtains to Chiaki's "room" and said, "You can go in and change now."

Chiaki stood, looking at Mikan, mouth agape. "Wow, that dress really makes you look beautiful. If I thought you were beautiful back then, you're DEFINITELY beautiful now."

Heat rose in her cheeks as she replied, "Thank you. Now go get dressed! I can't have you going in a hospital gown." She managed to let out a little giggle, the first she had managed in years.

"Alright, alright, I'm going!" Chiaki laughed, grabbing the dress that her father had brought in for her and walking past Mikan.

A few minutes passed before the curtains opened again.

The view was stunning, to say the very least.

The dress seemed to accentuate every perfect detail about her - the dark turquoise color only seemed to bring the color of her eyes out more, her hair had been put up into a lose bun and showed off her jawline and cheekbones, and it still retained all the charm that came with the person wearing it. Plus, the dress appeared to be a little more form-fitting at the hips than it had seemed whilst lying on its hanger on the hospital bed, something of which Mikan was especially grateful for.

"Do you like it?" she asked, lifting a leg to reveal the equally beautiful silver sandals that completed the getup.

"I love it," Mikan replied, earnestly.

Chiaki's smile seemed contagious, as soon, both of them were beaming at one another. "Well, if we're both ready, I suppose that means that we should be off, right?" she asked.

Mikan nodded, reaching for Chiaki's hand and intertwining their fingers together.

Just as they had opened the curtain, however, Yamazaki walked past.

Yamazaki gave a double take before fixing their eyes upon the pair's interwoven hands. "Aww, I KNEW you two had a thing for each other!" They gave a fist pump in victory over having a new piece of evidence towards their theory. "Both of you look adorable! I hope you have fun at the formal!"

They didn't stick around for a response before rushing off into their initial direction, disappearing behind the doors to the next ward. Chiaki and Mikan exchanged an embarrassed glance to each other, both as red as tomatoes, before laughing it off and continuing onward.

Once they got into the elevator, however, neither of them were laughing anymore.

Because the elevator had shook so hard that they thought they were going to be trapped.

Luckily, they made it to the ground floor without being stuck, and they continued out the door, to where Mikan's car was parked. "U-Um, I get pretty nervous while driving... D-D-Do you want to drive?"

Chiaki nodded, with a sympathetic smile on her face, letting go of Mikan's hand and opening the car door, getting into the driver's seat. "I understand why you'd be scared. I used to be really scared of driving too, but I've learned to get better at calming myself down. Maybe I could teach you the way that I learned to feel better about driving."

"I-I would really appreciate that. It's already enough of a hassle to bring myself to get to school."

Mikan winced as soon as the word 'school' left her mouth. She knew that the subject of Hope's Peak was still sour with Chiaki, and she hadn't intended on bringing it up, but she had almost forgotten.

And yet Chiaki had agreed to accompany her to a school dance, situated AT Hope's Peak. She had went against her own personal distaste for the mention of that school (she had never really talked to Mikan about it, but she could just tell that Chiaki felt guilty for being diagnosed with stomach cancer and not being able to attend the school to carry out her father's legacy), just for her sake.

Was there something more lurking behind Chiaki's bright pink eyes?

She internally shook the thought out of her mind. There was no way that such a beautiful, wise, calm, and forgiving person would ever see anything in her. She was simply a piece of human trash. Just a chew toy for everyone to play with. The punchline to every joke, the answer to every loaded question, the training dummy used by everyone during their sparring practices. It was common knowledge that Mikan didn't amount to anything. Socially, physically, academically, or otherwise, she was easily defeated by almost everyone else that attended the school. She was the prey, and everyone else was a hungry predator. She was insignificant at best, and a nuisance at worst. She had no standing anywhere, nor did she have any form of input in any conversation.

Worthless was the first word that came to anyone's mind after being asked to associate an adjective with her.

But here was Chiaki Nanami, a girl that could calm any storm, a girl whose words could bring peace to a nation ravaged by war, a girl whose smile could light a thousand cities, a girl whose eyes were enough to stop the stressed, incessant beats of Mikan's heart. Here she was, driving Mikan to a school dance, willingly taking the time out of her day to accompany her, to make her feel as though she DID matter.

She tried her best to snap out of her staring, but couldn't bring herself to look away.

Chiaki seemed to notice this out of the corner of her eye, and she turned to look at Mikan. "Are you okay? What's wrong?" she asked, keeping her focus on the road in front of her.

Mikan's lips opened a little, as she was trying to speak, but no words came to her. Instead, she just sat there, mouth slightly ajar, unable to say anything that she really wanted to say to her. Her face began to reach that familiar warmth she had grown to associate with Chiaki.

She seemed to take Mikan's silence as an answer, for she didn't question her for the rest of the ride.

* * *

"I'm really sorry that we had to park so far away," Mikan said, after opening Chiaki's car door for her and escorting her out of the vehicle. After Chiaki was completely out, she shut the door behind her and then linked her arm into hers.

Chiaki shook her head. "No, don't worry about it. I understand. A lot of students attend Hope's Peak. It's fine, really. Don't think that just because I'm not able-bodied, I'm not fit for the same things that you are. I'm just a little more susceptible to certain things than you are. Nothing else separating us from being one and the same."

"You don't understand, Chiaki, you and I are very different people..."

Mikan clasped her free hand over her mouth, having spoken without even thinking. Immediately, the hand returned as she negated her statement with weak excuses, such as "I-I-I didn't mean anything by that!" and "I-I didn't realize what I was s-saying!" In all actuality, she had meant every word that she had said.

Mikan had always been treated as an obstacle in everybody's path to happiness. She was neglected at best, and tortured at the very worst. Her weaknesses were often used against her by almost everyone she knew, and nobody had ever TRULY loved her. Her parents had been extremely distant from her, her "friends" all used her for her gullibility, and she was manipulated by many, males AND females, into performing degrading tasks and even sexual favors. Ever since she could remember, she was treated as an object - a mere prop in the play of life.

Meanwhile, Chiaki was surrounded by love. Her father loved her very much, as did her brother (although Mikan had never actually seen Chiaki's brother before, nor had she heard Chihiro mention him), and so did Mikan. She clearly had lots of friends, as she had received multiple gifts during her hospital stay. (Mikan had made particular note of the efforts of someone named Hajime Hinata, who had sent flowers on her first day and had been sending random gifts periodically to her ever since, such as the pixelated starship hairclip she wore every day, excluding tonight.)

The two of them couldn't be more different.

Chiaki seemed to notice that Mikan was thinking, and so she stopped walking, unlatching her grip from Mikan, until she stopped walking as well, having noticed that Chiaki was no longer with her.

"Mikan, I really care about you," she said, her tone firm and resolute, as though she were stating a historical fact.

She turned to face Chiaki, with a confused expression on her face. "H-How...?"

"I mean it. You mean a lot to me. You were one of my very first friends, and you've been nothing but kind to me from the day we met. I owe you my life, my soul, my mind... and my heart.

"Because I've grown fond of you ever since that night that you and I kissed. New Year's Eve taught me a lot, you know.

"I've learned that I have feelings for you. I've learned more about sexuality in general. I've learned more things about my father and how supportive he is. I've even talked to Yamazaki-san about you on more than one occasion. Everyone I've talked to has shown nothing but support. I've even talked to my good friend Hajime, and he admits that he doesn't particularly like the idea of me being with someone else, but he's been very very accepting of it.

"What I'm trying to say is... I really, really like you."

Chiaki's cheeks puffed out, as though she were proud in her statements. "I know that it might be hard for you to take in, but I mean everything that I said, down to the last word. Honestly, I really do care for you. You mean... almost everything to me at this point."

She began to step forward, towards Mikan, and once she got close enough, she wove her fingers seamlessly into Mikan's hands. "I know that I'm going to die soon, and I know that when it happens, there won't be anything anyone can do to stop it. I know that eventually, I'm going to succumb to my illness, and there won't be any going back once I start to fade. But I don't want to live out the rest of my life not having said what I want to say, or doing what I want to do. I want to do so many things before I die, Mikan.

"I won't be able to do all of them," she continues, a dream-filled sigh escaping her lips. "I wanted to own every type of console, and eventually become a certified game-tester for a major company. I wanted to skydive. I wanted to get married and have children, or adopt some kids, at the very least. I wanted to go to Hope's Peak so that I could show my father that I lived up to his legacy. I wanted to see my father get married. I wanted to watch his relationships with his partners develop. I wanted... I wanted to live.

"And now, right here, knowing that at any second this could all end, I just want to kiss you again."

Mikan's face flushed bright pink, and she looked down into Chiaki's eyes. One of Chiaki's hands broke free from the grasp of Mikan's fingers, and placed itself onto Mikan's cheek. The other held on even tighter to her hand, only further reinforcing the fact that their fingers fit together perfectly. She then closed her eyes and waited for Chiaki to close the gap, to kiss her again, like she herself had done in regards to her during New Year's Eve.

And once she did, she wrapped her free hand around Chiaki's waist.

She swore in that moment that she would never let go of her, no matter what.

* * *

A week passed, and the two had managed to only fall deeper in love as the weather began to heat up into the beginnings of June.

Their fingers were intertwined almost constantly at this point, and Mikan would start refusing to take predetermined vacation days, just to be able to spend more time with Chiaki.

Her condition had managed to get a little more worrisome, but nothing too drastic had happened.

Another person had came into the hospital, accusing a chef of lacing their food with a Mickey Finn pill. Police had followed the teen and interrogated them during their visit. Mikan had remembered the name, as she had come into contact with him during her years at Hope's Peak. A one Teruteru Hanamura, known for his culinary expertise, and also known infamously amongst both male and female attendees of the school for being a raging pervert.

Yet another example of an LGBT+ community base, but definitely not one to be admired.

The days and nights began to blur together, each passing hour seemingly rushing right into the next.

In the blink of an eye, it was suddenly July, and Mikan had already met Chihiro once again, who had immediately approved of the couple's now official relationship, even bringing his partners to meet Mikan for the first time.

Mikan had been intimidated by both Mondo and Kiyotaka, but they had quickly shown her their true soft natures, approving of her and Chiaki's relationship immediately and taking the two out for congratulatory dinner in celebration of the news.

The two of them seemed closer with one another than either did with Chihiro alone, but Mikan refused to mention it to Chiaki, as she was afraid that doing so would make her upset, or she would talk to her father about it, prompting an upset reaction from Chihiro himself.

And just as suddenly, it was August, and Chiaki's condition had begun to look like the way it had been when she had been first admitted into the hospital.

* * *

Mikan received the call while she was sleeping.

It was the morning of September 2nd, at 3:28 AM. She remembered the exact time like it was a mantra.

"Hello?" she had asked, groggily.

The voice on the other end was frantic, leaving no room for Mikan to decipher who they were exactly. "H-Hello? Mikan? Please, come quickly! Chiaki's had another really bad spike in the number of cells, and we're worried that this one is going to be the final."

She perked up immediately, grabbing her uniform and putting it on as quickly as she possibly could. There was no way she was going to lose Chiaki like this. Not now, not today.

Not without at least getting to say goodbye.

She rushed out of her apartment and down the stairs, making sure to call the nearby taxi service to get her to the hospital.

* * *

She didn't even make it out of the taxi before she got the next call.

* * *

Yamazaki had managed to get a doctor into her quarters, but it was too late.

On the morning of September 2nd, at 3:36 AM, they had lost Chiaki Nanami for good.


End file.
